Short-range radars that can detect collision dangers and automatically
apply a car’s brakes should be available by mid-2005, further to a
Decision adopted today by the European Commission. The decision, which allocates
a specific radio frequency band to short-range radar devices, is the result of a
two-year drive by the Commission and EU radio spectrum and road safety experts.
According to the European Road Safety Action Programme, the number of road
accident victims is to be halved in the EU by 2010.

Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said: "Short-range
radar can save lives. This innovative technology, developed by industry partly
with the help of EU-funded research, will reduce the frequency, severity and
cost of road accidents. Today’s decision opens radio bands to short-range
radar while preventing radio interference to other essential users of these
frequencies. The Commission thereby provides a sound legal basis for an EU-wide
market for short-range radar technology. I hope the automotive industry will
make full use of this opportunity”.

To permit the use of short-range radars, an EU-wide radio frequency band had
to be made available. The Commission acted pursuant to the 2002 Radio Spectrum
Decision which provides for a coordinated EU approach on radio spectrum matters.
As effectively all radio frequencies are already used, the challenge was to
enable short-range radar devices to operate in frequency bands at present used
for other important purposes, including mobile telephony, weather satellites,
radio telescopes and police radars. The Commission thus had to ensure that
short-range radars would not impair e.g. the accuracy of weather monitoring or
the reliability of mobile networks. The Commission had therefore tasked the CEPT
(Conférence Européenne des Administrations des Postes et
Télécommunications) to work out detailed technical means to avoid
interference and also consulted the Radio Spectrum Committee, which had given a
favourable opinion.

The use of short-range radar now made possible by the Commission is the first
large-scale application of Ultra-wide Band in Europe. Ultra-wide Band is a
low-power wireless technology that re-uses spectrum already employed by other
radio services. Many other useful applications of this technology are also being
developed with the support of Community-funded research, , for example to enable
wireless high-data transmission systems within the home and for locating victims
in emergency situations.

Today’s decision, which is to enter into force in mid-2005, opens the
24 GHz frequency band for a time-limited period to the use of car radars across
the EU. Beyond 2013, by which time the number of cars using SRR may have grown
to a level where other wireless services could be affected, new automotive radar
applications will be required to use another frequency band (79 GHz) already
harmonised by the earlier Commission Decision 2004/545/EC.